Advantages

Disadvantages

Overall a good camera

bought this camera a couple of years ago, having been generally very impressed with an Olympus camera that I had previously owned. This camera has also not disappointed, and has been used a great deal for a variety of purposes in the last two years.

Who/what the camera claims to be for

The reviews that I read at the time for this camera including the Olympus website claimed that whilst this is essentially an entry level and rather basic camera it still provides high quality performance with simplicity and value for money. Thus for the general user such as myself that merely needs a camera to snap the odd family gathering and holidays this seems a very good choice indeed. Achieving a high quality, easy to use camera that is also value for money is a bold claim, but I believe that this camera comes through in all of these areas. What the camera can do

The camera is 7.1 Megapixels, which is obviously not toward the higher end available, (and not as high as some camera phones these days) but is perfectly acceptable for general picture taking, which as I said is what this camera is designed for. The amount of Megapixels only really becomes an issue anyway when you wish to enlarge the pictures, but considering most pictures we all have developed are only 6X4 inches this is not an issue. The camera also comes with the standard zoom that you would expect.The camera also comes with a number of scene modes including film recording with sound, these can be played back on your computer (once you have transferred the pictures) and the sound quality is generally fairly good. It also has macro mode, which I have not used a great deal but means that you can take relatively good quality pictures from 10cm. It also has a landscape, people,and a night mode which are all self-explanatory, and several other modes.

In line with the ease of use that this camera claims it comes with an auto mode whereby the camera determines the optimum settings for taking the picture. My favourite feature however is the guide function which is easily accessible and includes things such as needing to brighten the subject if you select this as a problem then it will automatically change the relevant settings to try and improve this. Any Problems?

There are very few problems with this camera, on occasions pictures taken indoors in lower light levels are not as good, whilst this may sound obvious this is not a problem you would get with higher value cameras. The battery life is also quite short, but as they are rechargeable this is not a major problem. A final problem is that on occasions it says that the battery is low, yet when you turn it off and on again, this is not the case, but this is not a major problem.

The look

The camera is very attractive and sleek, compact and lightweight. it is very simply designed, and user-friendly. This design means that it is great for carrying around when using it throughout the day, which is always handy. It does not come with a case to protect it however, but I would definitely advise getting ones. As I have said it it is easy to use and there is very simple switch on the top making it easy to move between modes or select the guide function.Overall

Overall this is indeed what it claims to be. A high performing, fairly priced and easy to use camera, and I would recommend it for anybody for everyday general use.